The Speight's

Speight's

Speight's is a brewery in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is famous for its promotional branding based on being 'a real southern man' and being 'the pride of the south'. Speight's also gave rise to a series of Speight's Ale Houses across New Zealand.- History :...

 Coast to Coast is a non-standard multisport

Multisport

Multisport is a family of athletic competitions in which athletes race in a continuous series of stages or "legs", and rapidly switch from one athletic discipline to another in order to achieve the best overall time...

 competition held annually in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It is so named as it traverses from the West coast to the East coast of South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

, and features running

Running

Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...

, cycling

Cycling

Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

 and kayaking

Kayaking

Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...

 elements over a total of 243 km (151 mi).

History

The first Coast to Coast race was organized in 1983 by New Zealand sportsman Robin Judkins

Robin Judkins

Robin Austin Judkins ONZM, is a New Zealand sports administrator. He created the Alpine Ironman and the Coast to Coast, races that are often credited for being the origin of adventure racing...

. The original race featured only 79 competitors and was considered a largely local event. Subsequent races have increased in size, and with the race's 25th anniversary run in 2007 the field had increased to 840 participants and has gained international acclaim as one of the premier adventure races

Adventure racing

Adventure racing is a combination of two or more endurance disciplines, including orienteering and/or navigation , cross-country running, mountain biking, paddling and climbing and related rope skills...

 in the world.

Course

The race consists of 3 different timed events which all run over the same course: individual and 2-person teams competing over a 2 day event, and the titular World Championship race, a one-person, one-day event previously called The Longest Day competition.

The race begins with a 3 km (2 mi) run from Kumara

Kumara, New Zealand

Kumara is a town on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 30 kilometres south of Greymouth, close to the western end of State Highway 73, which leads across Arthur's Pass to Christchurch...

 Beach followed by a 55 km (34 mi) cycling segment through the Southern Alps

Southern Alps

The Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the island's western side...

. The next segment of the race is a 33 km (21 mi) run up the Deception River

Deception River

The Deception River is a river in New Zealand. It is a tributary of the West Coast's Otira River, flowing generally north for 17 kilometres from its source on the slopes of Mount Franklin. It passes close to Goat Pass, which gives access to the Mingha River. Almost the entire length of the river is...

, through Goat Pass and then down the Mingha River

Mingha River

The Mingha River is a river of the Canterbury Region of New Zealand's South Island. It flows east then south from its origin on the slopes of Mt Temple, meeting the Bealey River eight kilometres south of Arthur's Pass....

. A 15 km (9 mi) cycling leg brings competitors to the Waimakariri River

Waimakariri River

The Waimakariri River is the largest of the North Canterbury rivers, in the South Island of New Zealand. It flows for 151 kilometres in a generally southeastward direction from the Southern Alps across the Canterbury Plains to the Pacific Ocean....

 and the 67 km (42 mi) kayaking leg of the race. The final segment is a 70 km (43 mi) cycling race into Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

, finishing at Sumner Beach on the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

.

Records

The record time of completion of the race is in 10 hours, 34 minutes and 37 seconds, achieved by Keith Murray in 1994. Murray also holds the record for the 2 day competition at 11:05:18 from the year before in 1993.

Event	Time	Participant	Year
Men's Individual (One day)	10:34:37	Keith Murray	1994
Women's Individual (One day)	12:09:26	Andrea Murray	1997
Men's Individual (Two day)	11:05:18	Keith Murray	1993
Women's Individual (Two day)	12:59:57	Anne Woodley	1997
Men's Teams	10:50:56	Michael Causer Graham Causer	1993
Women's Teams	12:37:53	Suzanne Stowell Andrea Devine	1994

Steve Gurney

Steve Gurney

Steve Gurney is a New Zealand multisport and triathlon athlete. He is probably most well known for winning the Coast to Coast race a record 9 times.- Career :...

, a local from Christchurch, has won the event a record 9 times, in 1990, 1991, and 1997 - 2003.